Hooded Grebe - the best grebe in the world?

Hooded Grebe is a rare bird of the high plateau's in the Santa Cruz Province of southern Argentina. It was only discovered in the 1974 and since the population has decreased a lot. In the 1980's the population was estimated to be around 3000-5000 pairs. In 2009 more than 50 prime lakes were surveyed and only 117 individuals were found. In the 1980's the same lakes held more than 1800 birds. This caused the species to be elevated to Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

In November 2012 we had almost a full day to find this rare grebe but the birds seem to move a lot around between years and some of the lakes require quite long walks so the pressure was on as this was the most wanted species for half our group! No need to worry though, as we scored big time in only the third lake visited. Almost 100 birds were found in one single big lake. We thoroughly enjoyed this magical moment in complete silence with dancing grebes in our telescopes.   

   

Hooded Grebe, Strobel Plateau, November 2012. In the background the red water mifoil Myriophyllum elatinoides
which the grebes use to build their nests.

Hooded Grebe, Strobel Plateau, November 2012. It was nice laying on the bank with grebes often swimming quite close by.

Hooded Grebe, Strobel Plateau, November 2012. The best grebe around!

Hooded Grebe, Strobel Plateau, November 2012. I actually ended up enjoying the grebe more than I thought I would.
Its like an improved version of the Slavonian Grebe. 

RDN

Otamendi

Otamendi is situated just a short drive northwest of Buenos Aires. It is nice area with some good birds present. Unfortunately the area was almost completely dry during our visit and they had just cut the eringium plants (favored by the Long-billed Reed-hunter) in an attempt to eradicate the non-indigenous plants in the reserve. We did add close singing Tawny-crowned Pygmy-tyrant, Dark-billed Cuckoo, Brown-and-yellow Marshbird, Bare-faced Ibis, Snail Kite and a Diademed Tanager before entering the forest. In the forest we had a good selection of new birds with Orange-crowned Warbler, White-rimmed Warbler (responding very well to playback), Mottled-cheeked Tyrannulet, Chicli Spinetail, Freckled-breasted Thornbird, White-winged Becard, Long-winged Harriers, female Blue-billed Black-tyrant (even new for Gunnar), lots of White-tipped doves and Maguari Stork. In the open area we got Striped Cuckoo, Grassland Yellow-finch and back at the visitor center we had a brief Narrow-billed Woodcreeper. 

19/11 Diademed Tanager, Otamendi. On the southern limit of the range of this species. 

19/11 Freckle-breasted Thornbird, Otamendi. We had some troubles actually seeing this bird but we got decent views in the end

19/11 Narrow-billed Woodcreeper. Seen in the car park of the reserve. 

19/11 Mottled-cheeked Tyrannulet, Otamendi. 

19/11 Warbling Doradito, Otamendi. Seen on a few occasions on the trip

19/11 White-rimmed Warbler, Otamendi. A pair responded to a short playback. 

19/11 Tawny-crowned Pygmy Tyrant. 

19/11 White-winged Becard, Otamendi. Only seen at Otamendi.

RDN

Costanera Sur, November 2012

Patagonia isn’t the most species rich region in the world but it is home to some fantastic endemic birds and bird families. In addition there are some fantastic mammals making the region a must for birders/mammalwatchers. Most people visiting the region use internal flights to cut down travelling time. We did the entire tour in a minibus thereby enabling us to visit places as Isla Pengiuno and Torres del Paine, both places not normally visited by birders doing the traditional tour.

I landed in Buenos Aires a few days before the actual tour started to acclimatize and see the city. The Costanera Sur nature reserve (http://www.reservacostanera.com.ar/en/) is placed within walking distance of the town center. I stayed in the old part of town, San Telmo, which is only a 20-25 minutes’ walk from the Brazil entrance to the reserve. In my three visits to the reserve I recorded, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Grey-necked Wood-Rail, Black-hooded Parakeet, Dark-billed Cuckoo, Gilded Sapphire, Checkered Woodpecker, Narrow-billed Wood-creeper, Solitary Black Cacique, Black-backed Grosbeak and lots of more common species. The lack of water in the reserve meant that most pools were dried out and the hoped for ducks could not be found.

Bran-coloured Flycatcher, November 2012. I found a breeding pair within the reserve.

Brown-chested Martin, November 2012. Very common in Costanera.

Baywing, November 2012. Very common

Creamy-bellied Thrush, November 2012. Up to five birds seen daily. Not as common as Rufous-bellied Thrush.

Glittering-bellied Emerald, November 2012. The most common hummer in the reserve. Gilded Sapphire only seen on a couple of occasions.

Green-barred Woodpecker, November 2012. The most common woodpecker in the reserve. I saw Checkered Woodpecker on all three days as well. 

Hooded Sisken, November 2012. Very attractive!

Double-collared Seedeater, November 2012. Quite common within the reserve.

Rufescent Tiger-Heron, November 2012. A pair has been breeding in the reserve for three years now.

Yellow-browed Tyrant, November 2012. Only seen a few times.

Black-backed Grosbeak, November 2012. Only a few records prior to this bird from the reserve. 

RDN

Patagonia 2012

Just got back from a trip to the southern part of Chile and Argentina. Managed to get most of the southern cone specialties including some fantastic mammals. In the following time I'll be posting more pictures!

6/12 Beagle Channel. Probably the easiest place in the world to see three species of penguins together at the same time.

RDN